Big Mal has died, aged 83. I remember him mostly as assistant manager at Citeh under Joe Mercer and as boss of Crystal Palace in his fedora wearing days. Also as a pundit on the ITV 1970 Mexico World Cup panel. Always a figure of fun and very knowledgable. And of course he graced the field as centre half for the Irons. RIP Big Man.
I remember him as that big, bruising centre half in the following team: Gregory, Bond, Cantwell Malcolm, Allison, O'Farrell Hooper, Foan, Dare, Dick, Tucker RIP Big Mal
I went to school with Leslie Cassetari and spent many a happy afternoon in his Dad's cafe. Big Mal always had a lot of time for us kids. He arranged for Andy Malcolm to give some coaching at our school and sent a dozen footballs round with him. They were my boyhood heroes. A great footballing man, he rewrote all the coaching manuals, he was one of the giants of the game. The man that started the Academy. He and Fenton hated each other. Great shame that he never got to play in the top division. He was fit to play against Man Utd at home, a game that we won 3-2, if my memory doesn't fail me. (I was in the North Bank) Fenton chose a 17 year old Bobby Moore instead of him and the rest is history. Great pity that gambling and alcohol ruined his career. What is it with footballers and booze?